Two twin brothers from Brooklyn, Skewville brought the fun to their opening at White Walls last Saturday night with their new show, Amusement. After all, you can't take a show that starts with a sign reading "Sucks either Way" too seriously. Besides the simplistic yet detailed paintings, visitors got to ride on a bike-powered merry-go-round and throw bean bags at bottles like a carnival game. Even the works made of found materials, like the Battleship boombox and the suitcase made of tin lunch pails, brought a sense of humor to the night. After seeing the work in the back of the gallery, which was much more crowded, Skewville provided a light-hearted atmosphere in which viewers could drink beer, play games, and see some really great artworks.

The subtle word play between the written letters and the cut letters on which they sit is complex and inviting, and the wastebasket with paper shreds was a great touch. This room was a nice little sanctuary during the chaos of the opening and would probably be an even better experience any time between now and when the show closes on April 6th.

Buckle up for "Cheese and Rice Sonic Rush," the newest exhibition of work from Andy Hadle, now up at Wonder Fair (Lawrence, KS). This multimedia show serves up a mash-up of sculptural installation, video and works on paper for the everyday consumer, critic and cynic. Enjoy!

Nestled away in Lawrence, KS in a place called Wonder Fair, a spectacularly perfect exhibition for the space was unveiled to the public. The official opening was pushed back due to a blizzard, but despite snow flurries, local art goers were not kept away from the first chance to see artist Andy Hadle return to his hometown to share his latest and greatest work in a show titled "Cheese and Rice Sonic Rush."

This multi-textural show has that tailgate/deep-fried/Walmart/Superbowl-Sunday/Nauseous/Funfaire/Americana-underbelly feel to it that Hadle pulls off so well. Hadle agrees that the Nacho-cheesier-essence of his ink and acrylic works on paper and sculptural installations is evolving to a new level in this show.

His newest work "investigates the absurd, yet tenuous, codependency of commodities and human survival. Inspired by Humour Noir and Bizarro Fiction, 'Cheese and Rice Sonic Rush' is an ironic composition of consumer culture banality, wherein the viewer is invited to empathize with sell-outs and hypermarkets." The characters that emerge in this show are extensions from the consumer ritual dynamic of today's American culture.

The Shooting Gallery celebrated their 10th anniversary with a group show packed with people and work last Saturday night. The work is a sampling of the artists who have been with the gallery over the last decade and includes favorites like Ferris Plock, APEX, Robert Williams and Augustine Kofie. The space was stuffed full and people responded by coming out in droves. It was very difficult to get into the back project rooms, but that seemed to be an indication of the success of the night; too many people isn’t exactly a huge problem. The gallery really took advantage of their new space filling every room with work, and if this is what the first ten years looked like, I can’t wait to see what the next ten brings.

A couple weeks back Rachel Ralph made her way downtown for the opening of 111 Minna's newest shows SPECTACLE & FRACTURED MINDS. SPECTACLE featured works from Ben Walker, Emily Burns, Jaxon Northon, Nicomi Nix Turner, Monty Guy and Josh Thurman while the 2 person show FRACTURED MINDS featured works by N8 Van Dyke & Jonathan Way$hak.

The Chinese Culture Center of San Francisco opened The Moment for Ink on Saturday, just before the start of the Lunar New Year Parade downtown.

This show interestingly re-imagines ink outside of its Chinese domain and includes several American and female artists, like Kiki Smith. Each piece employs ink in a very different way, from traditional drawings to installations taking up entire walls, and the medium takes on new surfaces and meanings. This is one of the best shows I’ve been to recently and shows vast differentiation, even though each piece is essentially made in the same medium. Chinatown presents never-ending opportunities for experience, and this is not to be missed. Just make sure you make it there before it closes on May 18th.

After seeing McGee's Berkeley Art Museum exhibition last fall, this show was not what I was expecting, but it was perfect. Instead of a large-scale museum installation, the works were hung haphazardly on pins, just like any other student show which would take place in this gallery. A small crowd flowed into the gallery and then out into the hallway where they served cookies and popcorn, and where legends like McGee could look at student work hung in display cases. The artists were present, adding to the inclusive environment, and many students passed by on their way to class without realizing that there were stars in their halls. It was a great little show, and was probably highly encouraging to students who are just starting their art careers. It was as if the artists took a step back to show just how far they have come and, maybe, just how far they can go next.

I'm not sure how many people are lucky enough to have The San Francisco Giants 3 World Series trophies put on display at their work for the company's employees to enjoy during their lunch break, but that's what happened the other day at Deluxe. So great.

When works of art become commodities and nothing else, when every endeavor becomes “creative” and everybody “a creative,” then art sinks back to craft and artists back to artisans—a word that, in its adjectival form, at least, is newly popular again. Artisanal pickles, artisanal poems: what’s the difference, after all? So “art” itself may disappear: art as Art, that old high thing. Which—unless, like me, you think we need a vessel for our inner life—is nothing much to mourn.

Hard-working artisan, solitary genius, credentialed professional—the image of the artist has changed radically over the centuries. What if the latest model to emerge means the end of art as we have known it? --continue reading

"[Satire] is important because it brings out the flaws we all have and throws them up on the screen of another person," said Turner. “How they react sort of shows how important that really is.” Later, he added, "Charlie took a hit for everybody." -read on

NYC --- A new graffiti abatement program put forth by the police commissioner has beat cops carrying cans of spray paint to fill in and cover graffiti artists work in an effort to clean up the city --> Many cops are thinking it's a waste of resources, but we're waiting to see someone make a project of it. Maybe instructions for the cops on where to fill-in?

The NYPD is arming its cops with cans of spray paint and giving them art-class-style lessons to tackle the scourge of urban graffiti, The Post has learned.

Shootings are on the rise across the city, but the directive from Police Headquarters is to hunt down street art and cover it with black, red and white spray paint, sources said... READ ON

SAN FRANCISCO --- The Headlands Center for the Arts is preparing for their largest fundraiser of the year set to go down on June 4th at SOMArts here in the city. Art auction, food, drinks, live music, etc and all for helping to support a great institution up in the Marin Headlands. ~details

ABOUT HEADLANDSHeadlands Center for the Arts provides an unparalleled environment for the creative process and the development of new work and ideas. Through a range of programs for artists and the public, we offer opportunities for reflection, dialogue, and exchange that build understanding and appreciation for the role of art in society.

We haven't been featuring many interviews as of late. Let's change that up as we check in with a few local San Francisco artists like Kevin Earl Taylor here whom we studio visited back in 2009 (PHOTOS & VIDEO). It's been awhile, Kevin...

If you like guns and boobs, head on over to the Shooting Gallery; just don't expect the work to be all cheap ploys and hot chicks. With Make Stuff by Peter Gronquist (Portland) in the main space and Morgan Slade's Snake in the Eagle's Shadow in the project space, there is plenty spectacle to be had, but if you look just beyond it, you might actually get something out of the shows.

Fifty24SF opened Street Anatomy, a new solo show by Austrian artist Nychos a week ago last Friday night. He's been steadily filling our city with murals over the last year, with one downtown on Geary St. last summer, and new ones both in the Haight and in Oakland within the last few weeks, but it was really great to see his work up close and in such detail.

Congrats on our buddies at Needles and Pens on being open and rad for 11 years now. Mission Local did this little short video featuring Breezy giving a little heads up on what Needles and Pens is all about.

Matt Wagner recently emailed over some photos from The Hellion Gallery in Tokyo, who recently put together a show with AJ Fosik (Portland) called Beast From a Foreign Land. The gallery gave twelve of Fosik's sculptures to twelve Japanese artists (including Hiro Kurata who is currently showing in our group show Salt the Skies) to paint, burn, or build upon.

Backwoods Gallery in Melbourne played host to a huge group exhibition a couple of weeks back, with "Gold Blood, Magic Weirdos" Curated by Melbourne artist Sean Morris. Gold Blood brought together 25 talented painters, illustrators and comic artists from Australia, the US, Singapore, England, France and Spain - and marked the end of the Magic Weirdos trilogy, following shows in Perth in 2012 and London in 2013.

San Francisco based Fecal Pal Jeremy Fish opened his latest solo show Hunting Trophies at LA's Mark Moore Gallery last week to massive crowds and cabin walls lined with imagery pertaining to modern conquest and obsession.

Well, John Felix Arnold III is at it again. This time, he and Carolyn LeBourgios packed an entire show into the back of a Prius and drove across the country to install it at Superchief Gallery in NYC. I met with him last week as he told me about the trip over delicious burritos at Taqueria Cancun (which is right across the street from FFDG and serves what I think is the best burrito in the city) as the self proclaimed "Only overweight artist in the game" spilled all the details.

Ever Gold opened a new solo show by NYC based Henry Gunderson a couple Saturday nights ago and it was literally packed. So packed I couldn't actually see most of the art - but a big crowd doesn't seem like a problem. I got a good laugh at what I would call the 'cock climbing wall' as it was one of the few pieces I could see over the crowd. I haven't gotten a chance to go back and check it all out again, but I'm definitely going to as the paintings that I could get a peek at were really high quality and intruiguing. You should do the same.

The paintings in the show are each influenced by a musician, ranging from Freddy Mercury, to Madonna, to A Tribe Called Quest and they are so stylistically consistent with each musician's persona that they read as a cohesive body of work with incredible variation. If you told me they were each painted by a different person, I would not hesitate to believe you and it's really great to see a solo show with so much variety. The show is fun, poppy, very well done, and absolutely worth a look and maybe even a listen.

With rising rent in SF and knowing mostly other young artists without capitol, I desired a way to live rent free, have a space to do my craft, and get to see more of the world. Inspired by the many historical artists who have longed similar longings I discovered the beauty of artist residencies. Lilo runs Adhoc Collective in Vienna which not only has a fully equipped artists creative studio, but an indoor halfpipe, and private artist quarters. It was like a modern day castle or skate cathedral. It exists in almost a utopic state, totally free to those that apply and come with a real passion for both art and skateboarding

I just wanted to share with you a piece I recently finished which took me 4 years to complete. Titled "How To Lose Yourself Completely (The September Issue)", it consists of a copy of the September 2007 issue of Vogue magazine (the issue they made the documentary about) with all faces masked with a sharpie, and everything else entirely whited out. 840 pages of fun. -Bryan Schnelle

Jeremy Fish opens Hunting Trophies tonight, Saturday April 5th, at the Los Angeles based Mark Moore Gallery. The show features new work from Fish inside the "hunting lodge" where viewers climb inside the head of the hunter and explore the history of all the animals he's killed.

Beautiful piece entitled "The Albatross and the Shipping Container", Ink on Paper, Mounted to Panel, 47" Diameter, by San Francisco based Martin Machado now on display at FFDG. Stop in Saturday (1-6pm) to view the group show "Salt the Skies" now running through April 19th. 2277 Mission St. at 19th.

For some reason I thought it would be a good idea to quit my job, move out of my house, leave everything and travel again. So on August 21, 2013 I pushed a canoe packed full of gear into the headwaters of the Mississippi River in Lake Itasca, Minnesota, along with four of my best friends. Exactly 100 days later, I arrived at a marina near the Gulf of Mexico in a sailboat.

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